


Roses

by fanfiction_trashpile



Category: Ex Machina (2015)
Genre: Bezos mention, Miscommunication, Non-Explicit Smut, Smut, Valentine's Day, a small fight, brief food mention but there's no active eating in the fic, fade to black smut, some yelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:15:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29438841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfiction_trashpile/pseuds/fanfiction_trashpile
Summary: Nathan was a lot of things. Being a good communicator was not one of them.
Relationships: Nathan Bateman/Reader, Nathan Bateman/You
Kudos: 3





	Roses

**Author's Note:**

> This was a gift fic for the lovely @pascal-isaac on tumblr!!

It was easy to lose track of time in the middle of nowhere.

You’d been living with Nathan since the beginning of November, and it was as if time had stood still since you’d moved in. You tracked your hours based on the timing of your meals and your days based on the work you managed to accomplish. Blue Book had had their December product release (which you had _technically_ orchestrated) but you weren’t around civilisation to know how it went beyond the numbers.

Not that you could really complain. Being locked in a mansion with your sexy – albeit irritating – boss wasn’t exactly a hardship.

Nathan Bateman was a lot of things. Genius. Billionaire. Would-be-playboy if he bothered to leave the compound.

Being a good communicator was not one of his many skills.

Sat at your desk, you were flipping through the files he’d sent you to check over when the house itself began to rumble.

You always heard the helicopters before you saw them.

By the time you’d untangled yourself from your blankets and the cords at your desk and stumbled to the window, it had already passed overhead and was heading south.

South? That meant it was leaving. You’d just had your monthly supply shipment last week (as detailed by the snack wrappers littering your desk). 

Had Nathan made some plans to have people over that he just hadn’t told you about? Looking down at yourself, you were in no state to be having company.

You ran out of your office and into the elevator, hammering the button for the main floor. The moment the door slid open you were off at a run again.

“Nathan, there’s a helicopter—” As you came sliding around the corner on your socks, you froze, skidding to a stop in front of the dining room table. “What is this?”

The table was set. With actual dishes. Pink crinkle paper lined a basket in the middle of the table filled with… Were those roses??

Nathan sat at the head of the table, a shit eating grin on his face.

“You know, if you’re having a dinner party, you could at least warn the only other person you live with.” You crossed your arms over your chest, staring him down.

He had the nerve to look surprised.

“I’ll go make myself scarce.” You turned on your heel and stalked out of the room.

He could have been meeting with anyone. Literally any world leader or billionaire. The walk from the landing field wasn’t a long one.

Bezos could have very well seen you in your pyjamas.

The flowers were new. Nathan was being thoughtful? You tried to remember if he’d mentioned a deal or something else he was working on for Blue Book, but nothing came to mind. Not that he told you everything. You were there as a human communique for his board, not for him to talk to. Or share his thoughts with. Or share his wants and needs with.

As much as you sometimes wished he would.

There were a few times that he almost let himself. Occasionally, you’d drink together and watch movies and actually hang out. You secretly lived for these little moments where he’d almost let himself be vulnerable with you. But every time you reached out and he seemed to consider opening up to you, he shut you down.

Caught up in your thoughts, you were through the door to your room before you realized Nathan was calling your name. He was so close to you by the time that you turned around that he knocked into you, forcing you to take a few steps back into your bedroom.

“Bateman, what the _fuck_?”

“What are you doing? Why are you running?” Nathan pulled himself back, hovering closer to your door. You’d never seen him so perturbed.

“I don’t want to interrupt whatever you’ve got going on.”

“What I’ve got going on? That’s for _you_.”

Your face warmed. “What do you mean?”

Running his fingers through his beard, he said, “It’s Valentine’s Day.”

All you could do was blink at him.

Valentine’s Day? Like, the whole day-of-love, relationship-y day?

“Why?”

“Because that’s what the calendar says.”

“ _Nathan._ ”

You’d never seen him nervous before. He seemed to search the blank walls for an answer. “I just wanted to do something… something nice for you! Is that such a bad thing? Are you seriously going to tell me that I’m the only one that feels this?”

He wasn’t, and the asshole knew it. His genius could come in handy for some things.

You took a step back, not trusting yourself close to him. Not when he got like this, all “You are my _boss_.”

“And your friend! And your roommate! What’s one more title when everything’s already fucking complicated?”

“You could have _said something—”_

“I tried to!” He threw his hands in the air and turned on you. “I tried. You decided you knew what was happening and made your decisions based on crazy assumptions—”

Rolling your eyes, you moved to turn your back on him. “I wonder where I picked that up.”

“Can I kiss you?”

You froze in place and stared at him, mouth hanging open with a long-forgotten retort. “Okay,” you whispered.

He moved in slow motion. When his lips met yours, you stopped breathing.

You expected Nathan to rush this. He seemed like the kind of man that would be unapologetically selfish with you.

Not that you’d thought about it because you definitely hadn’t thought about it ever nope you’d never thought about your boss—

He silenced your racing thoughts with his lips on your neck. His hands on your hips backed you up against your bed, your knees hitting the edge before you’d realized you were moving. Clothes were peeled from your bodies and abandoned on the floor.

“You’re so hot when you’re yelling at me,” he mouthed against your throat.

The look in his dark eyes told you that he wanted to savor this. He placed teasing kisses on every inch of your exposed skin, settling down on his stomach between your thighs.

You weren’t sure how long he spent with his mouth on you before finally giving into your begging. He groaned into your mouth as he slid into you.

Nothing you’d ever dreamed of could compare to this.

*

He laid his sweaty forehead on your chest as you both caught your breath.

“I’m sorry.” The words were almost lost as he kissed over your skin.

You dragged your fingers back through his hair. You’d never heard him apologize before for anything, but this was, after all, a day of firsts. “For what?”

“The cheesy stuff doesn’t exactly scream _‘us’._ I don’t know why I thought you’d like that shit.”

“I don’t mind a little cheese once in a while.” You admitted softly. “I just didn’t think you’d—” There was no good ending to that sentence. You hadn’t thought he’d put that effort in for you. Everything about him today was surprising you, but you weren’t about to complain. 

This -- the cuddles and sweet-but-confusing gestures -- was the side of Nathan Bateman you’d been wanting to see for months. And you finally had it. Naked and in your bed. 

He interrupted your thoughts with a sweet kiss that had your mind going blank. “Wanna go have dinner now? It’s probably cold but—”

You cupped his face in your hands, cutting him off with your lips on his. “I’m sure it’s delicious.”

He whispered, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”


End file.
